Mini basketball a big hit in Shelburne

Aug. 11, 2011

Anthony Spagnolo (right) dunks against Mini Basketball League co-founder Brian McClintock during a playoff game Tuesday. Played on a 60-foot court with 8˝-foot rims in the backyard of the Morrissey home in Shelburne, the league’s high-flying action has drawn international attention on blogs and television. / IAN THOMAS JANSEN-LONNQUIST, for the Free Press

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The scene at the Morrissey home in Shelburne on Tuesday evening was a sample of the internet sensation Mini Basketball League, a 3-on-3, no-holds barred game that a trio of high school friends founded last summer, creating their own niche sport.

“We’ve been playing ever since we were freshmen in high school,” co-founder Brian McClintock said. “This is one of the ways we met, just playing pick-up mini-hoops. Then during last school year ... we wondered if other people wanted to do this.”

McClintock, Connor McCormick and Rob Elderton, all recent Rice Memorial High School graduates, established the league that has recently drawn interest nationally and internationally online, courtesy of several sports blogs and a 30-second spot on ESPN’s SportsNation television show last week. The concept: Playing with a miniature basketball on 8˝-foot rims and on a 30-by-60-foot court wrapped by hockey-rink boards. The summer league runs 10 weeks, including playoffs and a championship series, and was scheduled to wrap up this week.

“There’s a ton of interest. Once we did it for a year, got established, people wanted to play,” McClintock said. “We had to turn a lot of people down who wanted to play.”

This summer the league consisted of 14 teams, with eight qualifying for playoffs. The self-appointed commissioners — McClintock, McCormick and Elderton — set league rules and required teams to purchase customized jerseys. Statistics are kept, too. The league also has Facebook and YouTube pages, where videos, like the one seen on SportsNation, are posted. Yes, these guys are serious.

“I wouldn’t say we are the first people to lower a hoop and play basketball,” said Elderton, who designed the league’s logo. “But I think we are the first to make it a legit league with what we have.

“(SportsNation), I think, gave us a little bit more credibility.”

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The court

Dan Morrissey had hoped to turn a section of his yard into his version of the Montreal Forum — the Canadiens’ historic arena — by building an outdoor hockey rink that partly abuts the family’s garage.

“The idea was you could walk out the back door of the garage and right onto the rink,” said the father of three sons and a daughter. “It’s kind of an ironic twist. I installed them for hockey, not basketball. Now, it’s a part of the rules.”

The boards are in play, a key component in a league built on flash and style. With 8˝-foot rims at either end of the 60-foot court, highlight-reel dunks and splashy moves are encouraged. Games are played to 31 by 1s and 2s. The adjustment, McCormick said, is shifting from a regulation size basketball to a mini one.

“We lower the hoops, so everyone can do the dunking thing and get exciting plays,” said McCormick, whose family home was the original site of the mini-hoop pick-up games. “But you have to adjust with a smaller ball for dribbling and shooting. It makes it interesting and evens out the playing field for everybody.”

Some called for the use of a regulation ball, but the founders wanted something unique. Besides, who would pass up a chance to throwdown like an NBA player?

“It makes it a different game, so you can do the Blake Griffin stuff,” McCormick said.

Growing the sport

When The Basketball Jones, a blog on the Toronto-based sports website TheScore.com, celebrated the league, it sparked interest and curiosity. The blog’s writer, Trey Kerby, called it “the new best idea ever.” Deadpsin.com founder Will Leitch tweeted about it. Soon Elderton was trading emails with ESPN, the network’s magazine and Deadspin. A team from Mexico showed interested in playing while a team from Montreal did.

“What I’m most surprised about is how positive the feedback is,” McClintock said. “We were expecting getting people who didn’t respect what we were doing, and the way they see it as cheating basketball or something.

“Everyone we’ve talked to is pro-mini-hoops. They think it’s awesome.”

The founding friends helped a group from Springfield establish its league at the start of the summer. The Montreal group had also hoped to form a league, but it didn’t materialize. Still, McClintock sees promise in the sport’s far-reaching growth.

“We talked about potentially expanding it, and maybe try and take the next step and expand it throughout Vermont and New England,” McClintock said.

Morrissey was happy to open his home to his sons’ friends and acquaintances. Tuesday, he was grilling burgers during a set of playoff games that drew a sizeable crowd.

“It’s been a little bit more active this year, but again, never a problem. It’s always please and thank you,” Morrissey said. “It just goes to show in the world that we are living in today, with social media, they put it out there and, without necessarily advertising it, it’s gone viral in a way.

“It’s amazing to witness how it can exponentially take off. Who knows where it could lead?”